On Thursday, a special CBI court in Panchkula sentenced Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim and three others to life imprisonment for the murder of a journalist Ramchandra Chhatrapati which dates back to 2002 in Haryana.
The court pronounced the quantum of punishment for Ram Rahim Singh and three other convicts in the murder case through video conference on Thursday. The CBI had earlier asked for the death penalty for the self-styled godman.
On January 11, the self-styled godman and three others — Kuldeep Singh, Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal had been convicted by the Special CBI Court Judge Jagdeep Singh in the murder case.
All the four were convicted under Section 302 (murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. Nirmal Singh and Krishan Lal were also convicted under the Arms Act.
Speaking to a news agency, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Kamaldeep Goel said, “We have imposed Section 144 across the city. The CBI Special court is in Sector 1. We have also restricted the vehicular movement on all four roads connecting to the court premises.”
The 51-year-old Dera chief is currently serving a 20-year prison term in Rohtak’s Sunaria jail for raping two of his women followers.
The journalist published an anonymous letter in his newspaper, ‘Poora Sach’, narrating how women were being sexually exploited by Gurmeet Ram Rahim at the Dera headquarters in. After which Chhatrapati was shot at a point-blank range at his Sirsa home on October 24, 2002. According to reports, Chhatrapati later succumbed to injuries and a case was registered in 2003. The case was handed over to the CBI in 2006.
